CHALLENGING START » School closures due to fire exacerbate already difficult year. A3

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2020 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

By ROBERT COSTA AND DAVID WEIGELWASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Republicans began their virtual nominating convention Monday with a slew of speakers who echoed President Don-ald Trump’s dark denunciations of

Democrats as godless and sinister, culminating with a late-evening speech by the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who has cast the campaign as a culture war.

Those remarks, coupled with the president’s rambling and conspir-atorial remarks earlier Monday to delegates convened in North Car-olina, stand as a stark reminder of Trump’s domination of the party and its message — and largely over-shadowed the GOP’s official and cheerier theme for the day, “Land of

Promise.”“They’re trying to steal the elec-

tion from Republicans,” the presi-dent said of Democrats on Monday, without evidence, minutes after for-mally securing the party’s nomina-tion in Charlotte. “Just like they did it last time, with spying.”

Other voices set to address the Republican National Convention — including the St. Louis couple who emerged from their mansion and aimed weapons at racial-justice protesters, and young conservative

organizer Charlie Kirk — were also expected to amplify the president’s assertions that America would be-come a menacing wasteland if Dem-ocratic nominee Joe Biden won No-vember’s election.

“I am here tonight to tell you — to warn you — that this election is a de-cision between preserving America as we know it, and eliminating every-thing that we love,” Kirk would say, according to his remarks that were

GOP pushes Trump’s dark view of DemocratsCONVENTION » President addresses delegates; son casts election as culture war

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Rookie Occidental firefighter Rose Gonnella and her father, engineer Tom Gonnella, work to lay hose along a dozer line Monday at the end of Koch Road in Healdsburg.

By MARTIN ESPINOZATHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

As Sonoma County residents continue facing a high risk of coronavirus infection, wildfire evacuations that have scattered thousands could result in fur-ther spread of the highly conta-gious virus, health officials said Monday.

Due to the threat of COVID-19, the county limited public shel-ters for evacuees and most residents displaced by the Wal-bridge fire in west Sonoma County have found refuge with friends and extended family.

County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said the virus will take advantage of the fire-related community disruption.

“Whenever we have people who are in constant contact with one another that don't normally live together, there's definitely a risk of transmission of COVID,” Mase said, during a press briefing.

Already, the county is strug-gling to contain the virus, she said, and “we’ll have to wait and see” what the effects will be of the fires compounding the diffi-culty of a pandemic.

As the year’s first wildfires fill the air with smoke and ash, the coronavirus pandemic contin-ues to surge well into its sixth month.

The county last week report-ed 18 deaths from the virus be-tween Sunday and Saturday, the most in a single week. The overall pandemic death toll, as of Monday, stood at 73 residents, at least 58 of whom had lived in senior care homes.

The wildfire increases the risks of contracting the corona-virus, Mase said, and in some cases COVID-19 symptoms like sneezing and coughing are exac-erbated.

Asymptomatic virus carriers could be more likely to spread the disease in the community, Mase said.

“They may now have the symptoms of cough and be more likely to spread COVID,” the health officer said. “The best op-tion is to remain indoors and go outside only for essential activi-ties. Limit socializing with peo-ple outside of your own house-hold.”

The most recent public health data shows the average share of all COVID-19 tests that are pos-itive during a seven-day period in Sonoma County is 10.9%. By comparison, the state’s overall positivity rate is 5.6%, according to data released Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Not only is the county’s virus positivity rate much greater than the state’s, it has skyrocketed since hovering

Fires increase risk of spreadHealth officer Mase says disrupton, added contact to affect transmission

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SANTA ROSAHigh 81, Low 53THE WEATHER, B12

©2020 The Press Democrat

WALBRIDGE FIRE » VIGILANCE REMAINS CRITICAL

By AUSTIN MURPHYTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Paul Bradley was having second thoughts.

The pilot for Henry 1, the Sonoma Coun-ty Sheriff’s helicopter unit was airborne over Sonoma County last week and was talking with Tactical Flight Officer Chris Haas. He was sharing with Haas his experi-ence fighting fires from the air as they took the measure of the Walbridge fire churning through rough forestland in northwestern Sonoma County.

“When I got home,” Brad-ley said, “I was thinking that I should’ve taken him closer to the fire, so he could hear it, and feel it, and get used to it.”

They didn’t have to wait long for that. Shortly after 8 pm the following night, Friday, a call came over the dispatch line from the Marin County Fire Depart-ment. Haas has taken hundreds of such requests for aid. But this one, he said, was “unlike any call I’ve ever taken.”

The dispatcher asked if Henry 1 was available to rescue “multiple firefighters

trapped” in front of the Wood-ward fire, then tearing through Point Reyes National Seashore.

“I said, ‘Of course,’” recalled Haas. “But what concerned me was the panic in her voice. It

wasn’t like they kind of needed some help and were worried their people might be trapped. It was: They are trapped.”

Bradley and Haas were in the air within three minutes and headed for the reported location, southwest of Olema, where two

Helicopter crew describes last-minute rescue

By MARY CALLAHANTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Remnants of a tropical storm that had taken aim at the North Bay instead

veered around it early Monday, sparing wildfire-wea-ry residents and fire crews from erratic winds and dry light-ning forecasters had feared would intensi-fy Sonoma County’s Walbridge fire and undo days of work on containment lines.

While lightning was reported in some areas of Northern Cal-ifornia, including a single bolt that traveled cloud-to-cloud on the eastern edge of the LNU Lightning Complex fire near

Vacaville, there was a general sense of relief among emergen-cy crews Monday afternoon.

“We’re finishing off the day a lot better than we thought we would be,” Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls said Monday

evening, cheer evi-dent in his voice.

But vigilance re-mains critical, said Nicholls and Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh, who is

in charge of the battle against the LNU Lightning Complex fire that started Aug. 17 and has now consumed 550 square miles.

Kavanaugh expressed opti-mism on a day that saw essen-

Favorable weather gives crews a break

North Bay spared from forecasted erratic winds, dry lightning

CORONAVIRUS

DonaldTrumpPresident formally nominated by Republican Party

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INSIDEFire crews on the front lines battling exhaustion as well as flames / A3

ONLINERead the latest updates and view an interactive map at pressdemocrat.com

TURN TO CREW » PAGE A2

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Mill Creek residents, who did not want to provide their names, are saddened while seeing that all of their neighbors’ homes were destroyed, after viewing their own burned home Monday by the Walbridge fire near Healdsburg.TURN TO WEATHER » PAGE A8